A wide variety of potential embodiments will be more readily understood by those skilled in the art. Digital communications have become pervasive with the advent of computer networks, including the most familiar network, the Internet. Computer networks such as the Internet can be categorized as mesh networks wherein at least some nodes connect via links to a plurality of other nodes. For digital data, bandwidth is typically measured in bits per unit of time, such as bits per second (bps). Service providers can use Internet Protocol/Multiple Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) on networks for applications that can utilize a large amount of bandwidth such as voice over IP, streaming video, streaming audio, video teleconferencing, and/or on-line games, etc. MPLS communication involves determining a label switched path (LSP) over which traffic is initially routed.
Labels can be placed on each packet such that data can be transferred without recalculating a new label switched path at each node on the label switched path (or service path) as packets are passed from a source node to a destination node of the label switched path. Once the label switched path is determined from the source node to the destination node, absent a failure in the network, packets can be labeled and passed along the label switched path without changes to the headers or packet routing.
Dealing with network failures can be an important consideration to satisfying customers of service providers using MPLS as a signaling standard for traffic. Network users desire communications that appear to be uninterrupted and clear. Thus, systems that provide low hardware overhead, fault tolerance, and path recovery that take place quickly enough to not be noticeable by users can be desirable for MPLS systems.